Semiconductor integrated circuit device, facility appliance control device, and appliance state display apparatus

ABSTRACT

An application program changes a property value of a graphic object arranged in an object database. An object manager reads out the property value from the object database and then issues a drawing command. A graphics engine executes the drawing command to configure a memory image of the graphic object on a VRAM to display the image on a liquid crystal display via an LCDC.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a semiconductor integrated circuitdevice which, draws a graphic object of a graphical user interface, anda facility appliance control device using the same.

Also, the present invention relates to an operating device and anoperating method, which can be used for state display devices of variouskinds of appliances.

BACKGROUND ART

In recent years, graphical interfaces (GUIs) have become common becauseof widespread use of liquid crystal panels. Until now, GUIs, which havebeen used only in powerful computers and so on, are gradually spreadinginto built-in appliances. This is because the use of GUIs has advantagesof suppressing an increase in number of switches or the like due to theadvanced features of built-in appliances, allowing the user to operatethe appliances without difficulty, and so on. This trend may persist inthe future too.

However, arithmetic processors such as microcomputers, with lowprocessing power have still been used in the built-in devices from theviewpoint of cost-effectiveness, heat generation, and power consumption.A GUI processing requires a large number of instructions and consumesmost CPU resources, affecting the performance of an original applicationprogram, such as the delay of start-up thereof. There are strictrequirements for the built-in devices and this trend may persist in thefuture too.

To address such a problem, it has been proposed that part of a softwareprocess is replaced with a logic circuit using FPGA to reduce the CPUresource consumption (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The logiccircuit performs a process without decoding of instructions. Thus, thelogic circuit can effectively performs the process at a high speed,compared with one carried out by the software.

Other methods have been also proposed. In these methods, part of adrawing processing is replaced with a dedicated hardware in the unit ofdrawing instructions such as “line drawing” and “color calculation”.These methods have been commercialized under the name of “graphicaccelerators” (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

Nowadays, furthermore, while it becomes difficult to operate appliancessuch as air-conditioning appliance and household electrical appliance bysome buttons thereon because of the multi-functionality of theappliances, graphical user interfaces allow manufacturers to manufactureappliances that satisfy both multi-functionality and usability. Inaddition, the operability of the graphical user interfaces allows usersto use the basic functions of the appliances without difficulty and alsothe applied functions thereof. Thus, the operability of the graphicaluser interfaces leads to enhanced convenience of the users. However,from the viewpoint of manufacturing cost, the display devices of theseappliances have significant limitations on the display contents to aliquid crystal and the operating device thereof. In recent years,so-called soft keys have been effective alternatives to input buttonsassigned to particular operations, such as “START/STOP” and “WARMING”.The soft key, however, is dynamically assigned to any of functionsbrought up on the screen. In this case, the more the representation onthe screen nears the “soft key” button, the more intuitively a useroperates the appliance. In fact, however, the screen and the button aredistant from each other in most cases because of the restrictedconfiguration of a liquid crystal display unit.

To realize intuitive operation, for example, a method using magnetismhas been proposed in documents, such as Patent Document 3.

PRIOR ART DOCUMENTS Patent Documents

-   Patent Document 1: Japanese unexamined Patent application    Publication No. 4-314133-   Patent Document 2: Japanese unexamined Patent application    Publication No. 6-348854-   Patent Document 3: Japanese unexamined Patent application    Publication No. 2001-229794

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention

In recent years, most graphic objects in GUI, such buttons and textboxes, become so complicated that they are drawn by sets of drawingcommands. Such contents of drawing are determined by complicatedconditions in many cases, and CPU resources are also consumed to issuedrawing commands. Here, the phrase “issue drawing commands” means that,for example, when drawing “a hollow square with a width of 10 and aheight of 10, and upper left coordinates position X=0 and Y=0”, fourcommands: “draw a straight line from the point (X=0, Y=0) to the point(X=10, Y=0)”; “draw a straight line from the point (X=10, Y=0) to thepoint (X=10, Y=10)”; “draw a straight line from the point (X=10, Y=10)to the point (X=0, Y=10)”; and “draw a straight line from the point(X=0, Y=10) to the point (X=0, Y=0)” are created and then transferred toa next processing circuit.

In the technology disclosed in Patent Document 1, the process of issuingsuch commands should be allocated to FPGA and CPU by the developer himor herself using a compile option or the like. Therefore, the developerhas an increased load of designing the allocation. Furthermore, in thetechnology disclosed in Patent Document 2, an application program isrequired for performing the process of issuing the above drawingcommands, so that it takes a long time for the developer.

As described above, the drawing of GUI objects requires high throughputand places a significant burden on a low function CPU. For this reason,acceleration of processing speed is required. However, the conventionalmethods require much time and effort in the development so as to placelarge burdens on the developers.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems. Anobject of the present invention is to provide an environment that allowsa user to comfortably use GUI in a built-in device while suppressingincrease in time and cost in the development by fixing an attributevalue of the position of a GUI object or the like and separating aprocess required for drawing from an application.

Furthermore, a prior-art technology has proposed an idea of designing aswitch, but poorly corresponded to the “soft key” as described above.Therefore, a further object of the present invention is to realize a“soft key” function by bringing an operation device close to a liquidcrystal display part and simplifying the procedures of temperaturesetting and menu selection by adoption of a device for rotationaloperation as an operating device.

Means for Solving Problems

The present invention is a semiconductor integrated circuit device forbuilding a graphic user interface. The device includes: a graphic objecthaving a function of a button, a text box, or the like on a screen,which is constructed of a character, a figure, or an image; an objectproperty having attribute information, such as a position of the graphicobject on a screen; an object database for storing a plurality of theobject properties and arranging them in a rewritable memory; an objectmanager for issuing a drawing command for drawing the graphic object onthe screen with reference to the object properties; and a graphicsengine for processing the drawing command to draw the graphic object onthe screen. The object database, the graphics engine, and said objectmanager are mounted on a single semiconductor chip.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor integrated circuitdevice in which a process for portion related to graphics of a GUIobject and a process for an application thereof are separated. Thestructure of the property of a graphic object is fixed in advance.Between the processing for the application and the processing for thegraphics information is shared. Therefore, the processing for theapplication program and the processing for the graphics can exchange theobject property. Thus, the difference of GUI in every application can beflexibly absorbed. In addition, the issue and the management of drawingcommands of the GUI object can be implemented in hardware. Theapplication developer does not need to issue a drawing command, such as“Draw a line” when drawing a graphic object such as a button but onlychange an object property value. Therefore, developers can save time andeffort in the development. In addition, part of the process for graphicscan be implemented in hardware, thereby enhancing the speed thereof.

Furthermore, an appliance state display apparatus of the presentinvention includes a liquid crystal display unit and a housing forsupporting the liquid crystal display unit, a rotary operation devicearranged on the upper surface of the liquid crystal display unit, amagnetic sensor arranged on the upper surface of the housing, and amagnetic body arranged on the rotary operation device.

Advantages

According to the semiconductor integrated circuit device of the presentinvention, the processing for GUI can be separated from an application.In addition, the time and effort of developers for GUI development canbe reduced. Furthermore, the load on CPU can be reduced. Part of theprocessing for graphics can be implemented in hardware to speed up theprocessing.

The appliance state display apparatus of the present invention willexert the following effects: The rotation of the rotary operation bodycan be detected even without a special wiring arranged on the uppersurface of the liquid crystal display unit. Since the rotary operationbody is close to the contents displayed on the liquid crystal displayunit, an operator can intuitively understand the operation to thedisplayed contents and the response representation by rotary operation.

Even without a special wiring on the upper surface of the liquid displayunit, the operator can intuitively understand the operation to thedisplayed contents and the response representation displayed on theliquid display unit by operating the second magnetic body as a push-downbutton.

Even if the magnetism of the second magnetic body is small, the movementof the movable member can be detected and estimated.

Furthermore, click-feeling can be obtained as the rotary operation bodyis made to rotate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a semiconductorintegrated circuit device 102 according to Embodiment 1.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the operation of a semiconductorintegrated circuit device 102 according to Embodiment 1.

FIG. 3 is an schematic diagram illustrating a graphic object 301.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of an object property 15according to Embodiment 2.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of an object database9 according to Embodiment 3.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of an object location501 according to Embodiment 3.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of an object manager 6according to Embodiment 4.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating the operation of an object manager 6according to Embodiment 4.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating the operation of an object manager 6according to Embodiment 4.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a graphics engine7 according to Embodiment 5.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of the operation of agraphics engine 7 according to Embodiment 5.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of agraphic engine 7 according to Embodiment 5.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a memory image 1103according to Embodiment 5.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation screen 1401according to Embodiment 6.

FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram illustrating Embodiment 7 of the presentinvention.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an Embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an Embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating an Embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating an Embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating a magnetic field applied to a magneticsensor.

FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating a magnetic field applied to a magneticsensor.

FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 24 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 25 is a diagram illustrating Embodiments 8 to 10 of the presentinvention.

BEST MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiment 1

FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically illustrating Embodiment 1. Asemiconductor integrated circuit device 102 of the present embodimentincludes an application block 1 and a graphic block 2.

The application block 1 and the graphic block 2 operate according todifferent clock timing, respectively. In other words, these blocks canoperate independently from each other.

The application block 1 and the graphic block 2 are configured so thatthey can run in parallel. Thus, the graphic block 2 can execute a GUIprocessing, such as drawing of a graphic object 100, while theapplication block 1 executes a processing of an application program 101.Therefore, the application program 101 can monopolize the CPU resourceof the application block 1.

For example, the application block 1 and the graphic block 2 may bemounted by arranging different cores on a single semiconductor chip, butnot limited to such a single semiconductor chip. The block 1 and theblock 2 may be arranged on a plurality of semiconductor chips connectedto one another. The block 1 and the block 2 arranged on the singlesemiconductor chip are advantageous in that transmission delay, timingloss, and so on due to information exchange through connection hardlyoccur, compared with those arranged on a plurality of semiconductorchips.

Similarly, these blocks may be mounted on a complex programmable logicdevice (CPLD) or a field programmable gate array (FPGA) which can makeup a logic circuit, or may be provided as an IC, such as an applicationspecific integrated circuit (ASIC).

Furthermore, similar effects can be obtained by configuring the deviceusing a dual core microprocessor. In this case, separate cores areallocated to the application block 1 and the graphic block 2.

In the application block 1, an application program 101 developed by anapplication developer runs. The application block 1 includes anapplication CPU 3, a ROM 4, and a RAM 5. The application program 101 isa GUI-using program. For example, the application program 101 includes acontrol program for facility appliances, a communication program, and soon. The application program 101 is stored in the ROM 4. Then, when theapplication CPU 3 comes into operation, the application program 101 isread by the RAM 5 and executed.

Drawing of a GUI screen is carried out in the graphic block 2. Thegraphic block 2 includes an object manager 6, a graphics engine 7, aVRAM 8, an object database 9, and a CLK 10. The object manager 6 and theobject data base 9, the object manger 6 and the graphics engine 7, thegraphics engine 7 and the VRAM 8, and the CLK 10 and the object manager6 are respectively connected via a single or two or more wiring linesfor data transmission by electric signals.

Attribute information, such as the position, background color, and so onof a graphic object 100 having functions of a button, a text box, and soon is stored as an object property 15 in the object database 9. Theobject database 9 is placed in a shared memory which is accessible notonly from the application block 1 but also from the graphic block 2.

The object manager 6 reads out the object property 15 from the objectdatabase 9. Then the object manager 6 issues a draw command list 16 todeliver it to the graphics engine 7. Here, the draw command list 16 is acluster of drawing commands for drawing with the graphics engine 7. Theobject manager 6 is configured to receive instruction for periodicallyexecuting a processing by the CLK 10. Furthermore, the CLK 10 controlsthe execution of the object manager 6 with a trigger timing.

Here, the phrase “to issue a draw command list 16” refers to thegeneration of drawing commands in a right order with proper argumentscontained in the draw command list 16. The drawing commands are outputas logic signals to the graphics engine 7 via a data bus and so on.

In this way, the timing of updating the screen can be kept constant asthe CLK 10 controls the execution cycle of the object manager 6. If thetiming of updating the screen varies, it causes flickering and makes theuser uncomfortable.

The graphics engine 7 performs a drawing processing according to thedraw command list 16 to configure a memory image 1103 on the VRAM 8. Thegraphic engine 7 receives commands for the processing of drawing lines,dots, and so on and executes a memory write command to draw memoryimages.

A memory image on the VRAM 8 is transferred to a liquid crystal display(LCD) 12 via an externally connected LCDC 11. The size of an addressspace of the VRAM 8 depends on the screen size of the LCD. For example,when the size of the LCD 12 is 640 in width and 480 in length, thenumber of elements included in the VRAM 8 is 640×480=307200. The numberof bytes required by one element is determined by the number of colorswhich can be displayed on the LCD. The required size of one element is 3bytes when the LCD corresponds to a 24-bit full color display. In thiscase, the VRAM 8 should be at least 900 kilobytes. Thus, the size of theVRAM 8 can be designed properly depending on the performance of the LCD.

The LCDC 11 lessens the differences in features and drive method of theliquid crystal display. Therefore, the semiconductor integrated device102 is not influenced by the difference of the liquid crystal display12.

The RAM 5 of the application block 1 may be used in common with a RAMwhere the object database 9 of the graphic block 2 is arranged. In thiscase, their memory areas are separately allocated in the address spacesto prevent from being overlapped.

In addition, the VRAM 8 may be used in common with the RAM (not shown)where the object database 9 is arranged. In this case, the address spaceof the VRAM 8 may be used separately from the address space where theobject database 9 is arranged.

FIG. 2 illustrates the operations of the semiconductor integratedcircuit device 102 until the drawing of the graphic object 100 on theliquid crystal display 12.

First, the application program 101 running on the application CPU 3changes an attribute value of the object property 15 when needing tochange the behavior of the graphic object 100 such as the position,color, existence of highlighting, existence of display thereof.

When a start trigger 14 of the processing is set from the CLK 10, theobject manager 6 reads out the object property 15 from the objectdatabase 9 and then issues the drawing command list 16 for drawing thegraphic object 100.

The issued drawing command list 16 is transmitted to the graphics engine7 via a bus or the like. The graphics engine 7 executes the draw commandlist 16 in sequence to configure a memory image of the graphic object100 on the VRAM 8. The term “memory image” means a picture imageconfigured on the memory.

The memory image configured on the VRAM 8 is periodically transferred tothe LCDC 11 (liquid crystal display controller). The LCDC 11 convertsthe memory image 1103 into a signal sequence for displaying on theliquid crystal display 12 and then transfers it to the liquid crystaldisplay 12. The signal sequence may be based on any of alreadystandardized specifications, such as NTSC and PAL, or on a uniquespecification. These conform to the specification of the liquid crystaldisplay 12. Thus, the LCDC 11 corresponding thereto is selected andmounted.

Above operations result in drawing a new screen on the liquid crystaldisplay 12, where the new screen reflects the behavior of the graphicobject 100 changed by the application program 101. For example, when theattribute of a character string to be displayed in a text box, which isa graphic object, is changed, the above processing updates the values ofthe contents of the text box displayed on the screen.

The processing is performed in sequence for all the object propertiesstored in the object database 9. In other words, the draw command listis issued to each of all the object properties in order.

As described above, a developer can change the behavior of the graphicobject 100 on the screen by only making a program of changing the objectproperty 15 on the object database 9. For this reason, the developer isunnecessary for caring about detailed rules and specifications about theprocessing of graphics, so that the developer can easily configure aprogram. Therefore, the developer can save time and cost for thedevelopment of GUI. The processing related to graphics independent fromother processing, so that it can be accelerated.

Furthermore, as described above, by making the processing of theapplication block 1 independent from that of the graphic block 2, aconfiguration can be obtained in which mutual processing does not affecteach other. Therefore, the processing of the application program 101 canbe accelerated up to the same level as when there is no processingrelated to GUI.

Embodiment 2

Referring now to FIG. 1 to FIG. 4, an object property 15 according toEmbodiment 2 of the present invention will be described in detail. Inaddition, other components are the same with those of the Embodiment 1,so that the description thereof will be omitted herein.

FIG. 3 illustrates a button object as an example of the graphic object100. In general, a button part or the like, such as shown in FIG. 3, isused as a graphic object in a personal computer or a built-in device.The button part has various attribute information. For example, theinformation includes character, height, width, background color,character color, existence of animation, clicking sound, existence ofhighlighting, ID, name, and so on, written in the button. If suchattribute information 302 is defined, then the button object, which isthe graphic object 100, can be uniquely reproduced on the liquid crystaldisplay 12. For example, attribute information 302 of the graphic object100 shown in FIG. 3 includes: a character is “OFF”; the height is 10pixels; the width is 10 pixels; the color of the background is gray; thecolor of the character is white; and so on.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of the object property 15 of the graphicobject 301. Attribute information 302 shown in FIG. 3 is stored in theobject database 9 as attribute values 401 of the object property 15shown in FIG. 4 in the form of numeric values, character strings, and soon. One object property 15 has a plurality of attribute values 401, suchas a name, an ID, an X-coordinate position, a Y-coordinate position, awidth, a height, the existence of a clicking reproduced sound, areproduced sound, the existence of animation, the kind of the animation,and so on.

The object properties of the same kind of graphic objects on the memoryhave their respective configurations which are uniquely determined foreach kind. The same kind of graphic objects have the same configuration.The configuration of the object property 15 is defined by an offset orthe like from the leading address to each attribute value in the memoryspace on which the object property 15 is arranged.

As described above, the object property 15 of the graphic object 301 isprovided with the attribute information 302, so that any optionalproperty such as an appearance of the graphic object 100 can be changedwhile the essential features thereof are maintained. Thus, the graphicobjects 100 with different appearances can be drawn by the same logiccircuit.

In this way, by providing the attribute information 302 of the object asthe attribute values 401 in the forms of characters, numeric values, andso on, they can be referred to the logic circuit.

Embodiment 3

Referring now to FIG. 1 to FIG. 6, an object database 9 according toEmbodiment 3 of the present invention will be described in detail. Inaddition, the operations illustrated in FIG. 1 to FIG. 4 are identicalto those of the Embodiment 1 and Embodiment 2, so that the descriptionthereof will be omitted herein.

FIG. 5 illustrates the configuration of the object database 9. Theobject data base 9 has two or more object properties 15 and two or moreobject locations 501. The object location 501 includes the informationabout the location of the object property 15 in a memory.

The object database 9 is arranged on a rewritable memory (not shown).The object database 9 is configured so that it can be accessed from boththe application block 1 and the graphic block 2. For example, the objectdatabase 9 can be implemented using a memory or the like which can beaccessed from a different core such as DPRAM. Furthermore, regarding ashared memory, an access method to access the same single port RAM(SRAM, DRAM, or the like) using a shared bus is allowable.

The object manager 6 reads out the object property 15 of the graphicobject 100 from the object database 9. When the object manager 6receives a processing start trigger 14 from CLK 10, firstly, the objectmanger 6 reads an object location 501 and then acquires the positioninformation, such as an address, of the object property 15 on thememory. Next, the object manger 6 accesses the acquired address on thememory and then reads out the object property 15. To read out the objectproperty 15 means that all the attribute values of the object propertyare transferred from the object database 9 to the object manager 6.

The object manager 6 has the information about the configuration of theobject property 15 on the memory. The configuration of the objectproperty 15 is designed by a designer before determining the circuit ofthe object manager 6. The configuration of the object property 15 isunique for each kind of the graphic object. The same kind of graphicobject is prevented from having a different memory configuration.

When the application block 1 and the graphics block 2 share theconfiguration of the object property 15 on the memory, an exchange ofdata can be independently performed between the two blocks via thegraphics database 9.

Thus, the behavior of the graphic object 100 can be dynamically changedby arranging the object database 9 on a rewritable RAM. For example, thebehavior of the graphic object 100, such as the position thereof and theexistence of highlighting, can be changed during the execution of theprogram.

As described above, when the object database 9 is arranged on the sharedmemory which can be accessed from both the application block 1 and thegraphic block 2, the attribute of the graphic object can be changedwhile keeping their respective processing independent from each other.

The object property has a different configuration according to the typesof graphic objects. For example, the object properties of a button and atext box have a different configuration. Therefore, there are as manyobject properties as the types of graphic objects. It is noted that thegraphic objects of the same type have the same project propertyconfiguration. For example, if button 1 and button 2 are a “button” ofthe same graphic object, the object property configuration of the button1 and button 2 are the same.

The object location 501 varies with type of the graphic object and thegraphic objects of the same type are managed by one object location.

FIG. 6 illustrates an implementation example of the object location. Oneobject location 501 has a plurality of object property addresses 601.The object property addresses 601 store addresses on the memory wherethe object properties of the same type are arranged.

Thus, by collectively managing all the address of the object property 15by the object location 501, the object manager 6 can accesses the objectproperty 15 as long as the object manager 6 only knows the position ofthe object location 501.

Embodiment 4

Referring now to FIG. 1 to FIG. 9, an object manager 6 according toEmbodiment 4 of the present invention will be described in detail. Inaddition, the operations illustrated in FIG. 1 to FIG. 6 are identicalto those of the Embodiment 1 to Embodiment 3, so that the descriptionthereof will be omitted herein.

FIG. 7 illustrates the configuration of the object manager 6. The objectmanager 6 includes sets of an object draw generator 701 that issues adrawing command and an object draw template 702 that includes the typeinformation of the issued drawing command.

The object draw generator 701 is configured by a logic circuit and soon. The object draw generator is implemented as a different circuit forevery graphic object type. The object draw generator 701 issues a drawcommand list 16, a cluster of drawing commands for drawing a graphicobject 100, by changing a predetermined portion of the object drawtemplate 702. The object draw generator 701 connects to the objectdatabase 9 and the graphics engine 7.

The object manager 6 has a reference type object draw generator 703. Thereference type object draw generator 703 connects to the object database9 and the object draw generator 701. The reference type object generator703 draws a multiple graphic object configured by two or more buttons.In the draw command template 704, which is owned as a set by thereference type object draw generator 703, a command for drawing othergraphic object is described, such as “Draw a button object”. When thereference object generator 703 reads such a command, the referenceobject generator 703 transfers part of the object property to the objectdraw generator 701 and makes it draw a graphic object.

In the draw command template 702, most of the drawing commands fordrawing applicable graphic objects 100 are prepared in a list. Thesecommands lack, for example, information about the starting point ofdrawing a line and the assigned color. Thus, such information issupplemented to complete a draw command list 16.

The object manager 6 has the information about the configuration of theobject property 15 on the memory in advance. The configuration of theobject property 15 is designed by a designer before deciding the circuitof the object manager 6. The configuration of the object property 15 isunique for each kind of the graphic object. The same kind of graphicobjects is prevented from having a different memory configuration.

FIG. 8 illustrates the operation of the object manager 6 to read out theobject property 15 of the graphic object 100 from the object database 9.When receiving processing start trigger from the CLK 10, the objectmanger 6 transmits a command meaning reading out an address to theobject database. The object manger 6 reads out an address where theobject location 501 is arranged and then acquires the arrangementposition of the object property 15 on the memory. The object manager 6knows the position of the object location 501 which is predetermined bya designer. Next, the object manager 6 specifies the front address ofthe location of the acquired object property 15 arranged in the memoryand then reads out the initial data of the object property 15.Similarly, furthermore, the object manager 6 reads out data whileincreasing the address one by one in sequence. The object manager 6stops reading processing when completing the read of the last data ofthe object property 15, then moves to issue processing of the nextdrawing command.

By possessing configuration information of the object property 15 on thememory, the object manager 6 can acquire the front address of the objectproperty 15 from the object location 501 and read out a predeterminedattribute value of the object property 15.

FIG. 9 illustrates the operation of the object manager 6 to issue adrawing command after reading out the object property 15. The objectmanager 6 passes the object property 15 to a suitable object drawgenerator 701 with reference to the type of the read-out object property15. This processing is realized by arranging a chip-select terminal ofthe object draw generator 701 on a data bus connecting to the objectdatabase 9. The object draw generator 701 stores the object property 15in a temporary storage circuit, such as a flip-flop circuit (not shown).When the reception of the object property 15 is completed, the objectdraw generator 701 reads the draw command template 702 in sequence fromthe first line. The stored draw command template 702 is in binary form.In FIG. 9, however, the meaning of the binary data is represented byJapanese for illustrative purposes. Two or more drawing commands arestored in the draw command template 702. The drawing command has onedrawing element and two or more drawing arguments. For example, adrawing command 901 illustrated in the figure includes a drawing element902, a drawing argument 903, and a drawing argument 904. The contents ofthe drawing command 901, “line-drawing, starting position (x,y), endingposition (x+dx, y)”, is written in binary form. The “line-drawing” ofthe drawing element 902 means drawing a line. Variable X and variable Yin the starting position of the drawing argument 903 have a value thatrepresent an offset from the front address in the object property 15.Here, the draw command template 702 stores binary data. The binary datameans that the variable X refers to the third element in the objectproperty 15 and the variable Y refers to the fourth element therein.When the object draw generator 701 reads the binary data that means suchreference, the object draw generator 701 reads out correspondingreference value from the object property 501 and the binary data thatmeans the reference is then replaced with such a value. In this way, thebinary data that means the reference is replaced and the completeddrawing command is then output as a drawing command list 16 to the nextcircuit.

The drawing command list 16 includes a plurality of data. The drawingcommand list is binary data. In FIG. 9, the binary data is representedby Japanese for illustrative purposes. Data 911 includes a drawingcircuit selection 912, a register value 913, and a register value 914.These data are transferred one line at a time to the graphics engine 7via a bus or the like. The drawing command list 16, the drawing commandtemplate 702, and the object property 15 are temporarily stored in thememory (not shown).

In this way, the use of the drawing command template 702 allows apredetermined value of the object property 15 of the graphic object 100to be replaced with part of the drawing command template 702 so as tocomplete the drawing command list 16. Thus, the drawing command of thegraphic object 100 can be configured with a small number ofinstructions. By decreasing the number of instructions, the requiredscale of the circuit can be reduced.

In addition, to draw a graphic object configured by a plurality ofgraphic objects, the number of draw generators 701 to be totallyrequired can be reduced using the reference type draw generator 703.Therefore, the required scale of the logic circuit can be reduced.

Embodiment 5

Referring now to FIG. 1 to FIG. 13, the graphics engine 7 according toEmbodiment 5 of the present invention will be described in detail. Theoperation illustrated in FIG. 1 to FIG. 9 is the same as those describedin Embodiment 1 to Embodiment 4, so that the description thereof will beomitted.

FIG. 10 illustrates the configuration of the graphics engine 7. Thegraphics engine 7 includes a line-drawing circuit 1001, point-drawingcircuit 1002, a circle-drawing circuit 1003, and a character-drawingcircuit 1004 and so on. Drawing circuits are independently provided forthe respective drawing elements, such as lines, points, circles,squares, and characters. The drawing circuits are configured on thebasis of the Bresenham or Michener's algorithm, or the like. The drawingcircuit is configured by a logic circuit. Each of the drawing circuitsreceives an input and then draws a graphics primitive on the VRAM 8.Here, the graphics primitive is a basic drawing element, such as a line,a point, a circle, a square, or a character.

The graphics engine 7 reads the drawing command list 16 issued by theobject manager 6 and distributes commands to the respective drawingcircuits. For example, a line-drawing command is distributed to theline-drawing circuit 1001 and a circle-drawing command is distributed tothe circle-drawing circuit 1003. The distribution of commands isrealized by providing each drawing circuit with a circuit select bit.

In this way, by distributing commands to a plurality of drawingcircuits, similar drawing processing may reutilize the same logiccircuit. For example, a button and a text box are different in shape butthey can be drawn by repeating a point-drawing command and aline-drawing command several times in sequence. If drawing circuitsdedicated to the respective graphic objects are prepared, the scale ofthe resulting circuit will be large. In contrast, the reutilization ofsuch a drawing circuit can reduce the scale of the required drawingcircuit.

FIG. 11 illustrates the operation of the line-drawing circuit 1001 ofthe graphics engine 7. Here, other drawing circuits have the samefundamental operation and configuration as those of the line-drawingcircuit.

The line-drawing circuit 1001 employs two coordinate data of a startingposition 1101 and an ending position 1102 as input values from theobject manager 6. These values are stored in a predetermined registerand while shifting coordinate positions in sequence from the inputstarting position 1101 to the ending position 1102 to configure a lineon the VRAM 8. On the VRAM 8, addresses corresponding to the Xcoordinate and the Y coordinate of the liquid crystal display 12 arepreviously defined. The line-drawing circuit 1001 configures a memoryimage 1103 on the VRAM 8 by writing assigned color data for thecorresponding address and draws a graphic primitive 1104.

FIG. 12 illustrates the exchange of data between the line-drawingcircuit 1001 and the VRAM 8. The drawing circuit such as theling-drawing circuit 1001 has a register 1201 and a register 1202, whichare registers dedicated to receive inputs. A start flag 1203 is on aftersetting values on the respective resisters to initiate a drawingprocessing. In the line-drawing circuit 1001, data is set at apredetermined address in the VRAM 8. Therefore, the VRAM 8 has anaddress resister 1204 for setting an address position and a dataresister 1205 for receiving data to be set at the position. When theVRAM 8 receives the designation for writing to the memory, a busy flag1206 is on until the completion of the writing. During that the busyflag 1206 is on, the line-drawing circuit 1001 waits for a nextprocessing. When the busy flag 1206 is down, the next process isperformed.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example of the memory image 1103 of the buttongraphic object 100 formed in the VRAM 8. Color information about drawingpoints is recorded in the VRAM 8. In the VRAM 8, the memory image 1103is held on the whole screen and transferred to the LCDC 11 at a certaintiming.

Embodiment 6

A facility appliance control device according to Embodiment 6 of thepresent invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 1to FIG. 14. The operation of the semiconductor integrated circuit deviceillustrated in FIG. 1 to FIG. 12 is the same as that described inEmbodiment 1 to Embodiment 5, so that the description thereof will beomitted.

FIG. 14 is an example of GUI screen of the facility appliance controldevice in which the semiconductor integrated circuit device 102 of thepresent invention is built-in. Here, an air-conditioning remote controlwill be described as an example of the facility appliance controldevice. An operation screen 1401 of the air-conditioning remote controlincludes a plurality of graphic objects 100 coexisting on a singlescreen. The object properties 15 of the respective graphic objects 100are independently stored in the object database 9 as described above. Anapplication program 101 that communicates with an air-conditioningmachine is stored in the ROM 4 and executed by the application CPU 3.For example, when a user wants to turn on the power switch (“ON”) of anair conditioner on the screen, the user only have to turn on thehighlighted object property that corresponds to the “ON” button on thescreen, while turning off the highlighted object property thatcorresponds to the “OFF” button on the screen.

The application program 101 is a program for making communicationbetween an indoor unit and an outdoor unit of the air conditioner andassembling control commands thereof. For example, when the applicationprogram 101 receives room-temperature information from the indoor unit,the application program 101 updates the graphics property 15.

The application program 101 processes a user's input information enteredfrom the screen and updates the graphic property 15. Then theinformation is reflected on the screen.

Furthermore, the graphic block 2 may be provided with an additionalmeans for exclusively processing the input information entered by theuser through the screen. In this case, there is no difference in thatthe value of the object property 15 in the object database 9 is finallyupdated.

As described above, by making the graphics block 2 perform processingrelated to the drawing of the graphic object 100, the control programimplemented in the application block 1 can easily change the displayscreen only by changing the value of the object property 15 of theobject database 9 arranged in the memory shared by these blocks.Therefore, by mounting the semiconductor integrated circuit device 102,the developer of the facility appliance control device such as anair-conditioning remote control can easily create a program that showsthe state of the facility appliance through the screen to the user.

Embodiment 7

FIG. 15 illustrates a first embodiment of the present invention. Theconfiguration includes a liquid crystal display unit 2101 and housingmembers 2102 a, 2102 b, and 2102 c for supporting the liquid crystaldisplay unit 2101. The device further includes a disk-shaped rotaryoperation body 2103 placed on the top of the liquid crystal display unit2101 and magnetic sensors 2104 a and 2104 b placed on the top of thehousing member.

FIG. 16 is a side view of the rotary operation body 2103. A rotationsupport 2103 b is arranged under the rotation center portion. Inaddition, magnetic bodies 2201 to 2204 are circumferentially arrangedalong the lower surface. Furthermore, magnetic bodies 2205 to 2208 arealso arranged not shown in the figure.

FIG. 17 is a back view of the rotary operation body 2103. The magneticbodies 2201 to 2208 are circumferentially arranged along the lowersurface. The north (N) poles and the south (S) poles of the respectivemagnetic bodies are alternately arranged on the lower surface.

Here, the magnetic bodies 2201 to 2208 are supposed to be made of arare-earth neodymium-based substance, a rare-earth samarium cobalt-basedsubstance, or the like with a magnetic flux density of approximately1000 [mT]. Alternatively, a tape-shaped magnetic film may be alsoapplicable as long as what corresponds to such substances.

FIG. 18 is a top view of the rotary operation body 2103 and representsthe positional relationship between the rotary operation body 2103 andthe magnetic sensors 2104 a and 2104 b. When the peripheral edge of therotary operation body 2103 overlaps the axes of the magnetic sensors2104 a and 2104 b as in the case of the present arrangement, themagnetic bodies 2301 to 2308 arranged on the back of the rotaryoperation body 2103 and the magnetic sensors 2104 a and 2104 b comecloser to interact with each other. As a result, the sensitivities ofthe magnetic sensors 2104 a and 2104 b become maximum.

FIG. 19 is a top view illustrating the rotary operation body 2103, theliquid crystal display unit 2101, and the magnetic sensors 2104 a and2104 b hidden by the back of the liquid crystal display unit 2101. Asshown in the figure, the rotary operation body 2103 and the magneticsensors 2104 a and 2104 b are out of contact with each other through theintervention of the liquid crystal unit 2101.

FIG. 20 is a graph that represents the relationship between the rotationof the rotary operation body 2103 and the detecting status of themagnetic sensors 2104 a and 2104 b. The vertical axis represents amagnetic field where the positive direction shows the level of the Spole and the negative direction shows the level of the N pole. Thehorizontal axis represents the clockwise rotation of the rotaryoperation body 2103. Here, the curve 2501 shows a magnetic fieldstrength applied to the magnetic sensor 2104 a and a curve 2502 shows amagnetic field strength applied to the magnetic sensor 2104 b. Themagnetic field forms a cycle as the rotary operation body 2103 rotatesin such a way that the magnetic substance 2201 arranged on the lowersurface of the rotary operation body 2103 is changed into 2203 bypassing 2202 by the criterion when located perpendicular to the magneticsensor 2104 b.

In FIG. 21, the detection thresholds 2601 and 2602 of the magneticsensors 2104 a and 2104 b are added. When exceeding the threshold values2601 and 2602, the values of the magnetic sensors 2104 a and 2104 brepresent change. Specifically, in the case of the magnetic sensor 2104a, the value of the magnetic sensor 2104 a changes from 1 to 0 when therotary operation body 2103 rotates, with the position 2605 being thecriterion, up to the position 2606. Furthermore, when the rotaryoperation body rotates up to the position 2607, the value of themagnetic sensor 2104 a changes from 0 to 1. In addition, at the position2608, the value of the magnetic sensor 2104 a changes from 1 to 0.

From a change in value of the magnetic sensor 2104 a and a change invalue of the magnetic sensor 2104 b, since phase (time) in thehorizontal direction of the graph in FIG. 21 is shifted. It is possibleto estimate the rotation direction of the rotary operation body and therotational speed of the rotary operation body can be estimated by thespeeds of the above changes.

According to the present embodiment, when the small-sized rotaryoperation body 2103 is mounted on the upper surface of the liquidcrystal display unit 2101, the rotational speed and the rotationdirection of the rotary operation body 2103 can be detected without anywiring line to the upper surface of the liquid crystal display unit2101. Therefore, by performing the rotational operation in the vicinityof the display contents of the liquid crystal display unit, an operatorcan intuitively understand the action on the display contents and theresponse representation.

In the present embodiment, the magnetic sensors 2104 a and 2104 b arearranged in the housing member 2102 a, it may be fixed by screws or aliquid adhesive. Furthermore, the magnetic sensors 2104 a and 2104 b maybe arranged on the lower surface of the liquid crystal display unit 2101and fixed by screws or the liquid adhesive.

Embodiment 8

FIG. 25 illustrates Embodiment 8 of the present invention. Theconfiguration includes a liquid crystal display unit 2101 and housingmembers 2102 a, 2102 b, and 2102 c for supporting the liquid crystaldisplay unit 2101. The device further includes a disk-shaped rotaryoperation body 2103 placed on the top of the liquid crystal display unit2101 and magnetic sensors 2104 a, 2104 b, and 2104 c placed on the topof the housing member 2102 a. Here, the position of the liquid crystaldisplay unit 2101 along the plane direction of the magnetic sensor 2104c overlaps the rotation center of the rotary operation body 2103.

FIG. 17 to FIG. 19 also represent the present embodiment. The followingcomponents are the same as those of the Embodiment 1 of the presentinvention. The components include: the liquid crystal display unit 2101;the housing members 2102 a, 2102 b, and 2102 c that support the liquidcrystal display unit 2101; the disk-shaped rotary operation body 2103placed on the upper surface of the liquid crystal display unit 2101; themagnetic sensors 2104 a and 2104 b arranged on the upper surface ofthese housing members; and the magnetic bodies 2201 to 2208 arranged onthe lower surface of the rotary operation body 2103.

FIG. 22 illustrates the unique features of Embodiment 8 of the presentinvention. The rotation center of the rotary operation body 2103 has ahollow with a predetermined diameter of approximately 10 mm to 30 mm. Asecond magnetic body 2701 is placed in the hollow. In addition, therotation support 2103 b under the rotation center of the rotaryoperation body 2103 is in the form of a circle with a hollow almostcorresponding to the diameter of the rotation center, so that 2103 cpart is shown in the side view.

According to the present embodiment, the second magnetic body 2701 is amoving part, so that it can be moved downward by being pushed down fromthe upper side of the figure. The movement causes a change in themagnetic field with the magnetic sensor 2104 c in FIG. 15. The magneticsensor 2104 c can estimate the movement of the second magnetic body 2701by detecting unusual change over a predetermined threshold.

In the present embodiment, for simplifying the explanation, by makingthe magnetic sensor 2104 c placed near the center of the rotaryoperation body 2103 for the purpose of detecting the second magneticbody 2701, the influence of the magnetic bodies 2201 to 2200 is madesmall. However, the rotation state of the rotary operation body 2103 canbe estimated from the detection results of the magnetic sensors 2104 aand 2104 b, the influence of the magnetic bodies 2201 to 2208 can becompensated even if such influence has occurred and the magnetic sensor2104 c may be not necessarily located near the center of the rotaryoperation body 2103.

Similarly, the magnetic sensors 2104 a and 2104 b do not detect binarylevels of the predetermined thresholds but detect any variation in themagnetic field. Thus, the amount of change in the magnetic field can beestimated whether it is a phase component where the positionalrelationship among the magnetic bodies 2201 to 2208 is changed or it isa power component due to the positional change of the second magneticbody 2701. According to this method, the magnetic sensor 2104 c is notindispensable.

Furthermore, the support of the second magnetic body 2701 may beprovided with a spring to facilitate the second magnetic body 2701 toreturn upward in FIG. 22 or prevent it from jumping out.

Therefore, even if there is no special wiring line on the upper surfaceof the liquid crystal display unit 2101, the pushing down of the secondmagnetic body 2701 can be detected by the magnetic sensor 2104 c on thelower surface of the liquid crystal. In addition, since the contentsdisplayed by the liquid crystal display unit 2101 and the rotaryoperation body 2103 are close, an operator can intuitively understandthe operation to the displayed contents and the response representationby operating the second magnetic body 2701 as a push-down button.

Embodiment 9

FIG. 25 illustrates Embodiment 9 of the present invention. Theconfiguration includes a liquid crystal display unit 2101 and housingmembers 2102 a, 2102 b, and 2102 c for supporting the liquid crystaldisplay unit 2101, a disk-shaped rotary operation body 2103 placed onthe top of the liquid crystal display unit 2101, and magnetic sensors2104 a, 2104 b, and 2104 c placed on the top of the housing member.

Here, the position of the magnetic sensor 2104 c along a plane directionof the liquid crystal display unit 2101 overlaps the rotation center ofthe rotary operation body 2103.

FIGS. 17 to 19 also represent the present embodiment. The followingcomponents are the same as those of the Embodiment 1 of the presentinvention. The components include: the liquid crystal display unit 2101;the housing members 2102 a, 2102 b, and 2102 c that support the liquidcrystal display unit 2101; the disk-shaped rotary operation body 2103 onthe upper surface of the liquid crystal display unit 2101; the magneticsensors 2104 a and 2104 b arranged on the upper surface of the housingmember; and the magnetic bodies 2201 to 2208 arranged on the lowersurface of the rotary operation body 2103.

FIG. 23 illustrates the unique features of Embodiment 9 of the presentinvention. The rotation center of the rotary operation body 2103 has ahollow with a predetermined diameter of approximately 10 mm to 30 mm. Amovable member 2801 is placed in the hollow. In addition, secondmagnetic bodies 2802 a and 2802 b in contact with the movable member2801 are also placed in the hollow. The second magnetic body 2802 a isjoined so that it is in contact with the outer circumference of themovable member 2801. Also, the second magnetic body 2802 b is in contactwith the outer circumference of the movable part 2801 and joined almostat a position symmetric to the junction of the second magnetic body 2802a. In addition, the second magnetic bodies 2802 a and 2802 b are alignedso that their S poles direct upward and their N poles direct downward.However, the directions of the S and N poles may be changed.

FIG. 24 illustrates the operating state of the present embodiment. Themovable member 2801 is moved downward by being pushed down from theupper side of the figure. Therefore, it is arranged that the secondmagnetic bodies 2802 a and 2802 b are located below the hollow near thecenter of the rotary operation body, so that their N poles repel eachother to extend outwardly at the lower part of the figure.

In the state illustrated in FIG. 23, the N poles of the second magneticbodies 2802 a and 2802 b are aligned downward in the figure, however,there is no substantial influence of the N poles on the downward of thefigure in the state of FIG. 24. Here, the magnetic sensor 2104 c in FIG.25 detects a large change in the magnetic field and estimates themovement of the movable member 2801.

In FIG. 23, a conical projection may be provided directly under themagnetic bodies 2802 a and 2802 b to facilitate the magnetic bodies 2802a and 2802 b can be extended outwardly by pushing down the movablemember 2801.

In the present embodiment, for simplifying the explanation, the magneticsensor 2104 c is placed near the center of the rotary operation body2103 for the purpose of detecting the second magnetic bodies 2802 a and2802 b to make the influence of the magnetic bodies 2201 to 2208 small.However, the rotation state of the rotary operation body 2103 can beestimated from the detection results of the magnetic sensors 2104 a and2104 b. Thus, the influence of the magnetic bodies 2201 to 2208 can becompensated even if such influence has occurred, so that the magneticsensor 2104 c may be not necessarily located near the center of therotary operation body 2103.

Similarly, the magnetic sensors 2104 a and 2104 b do not detect binarylevels of the predetermined thresholds but detect any variation in themagnetic field. Thus, the amount of change in the magnetic field can beestimated whether it is a phase component where the positionalrelationship with the magnetic bodies 2201 to 2208 is changed with therotation of the rotary operation body 2103 or whether it is a powercomponent due to the directional changes of the second magnetic bodies2802 a and 2802 b. According to this method, the magnetic sensor 2104 cis not indispensable.

Furthermore, the support of the movable member 2801 may be provided witha spring to facilitate the second magnetic body 2701 to return upward inFIG. 22 or prevent it from jumping out of the hollow.

According to the present embodiment, even if the magnetism of the secondmagnetic bodies 2802 a and 2802 b are small, the magnetic sensors 2104 aand 2104 b can detect and estimate the movement of the movable member2801 and even if the amount of movement of the movable member 2801 issmall, the magnetic sensors 2104 a and 2104 b can detect and estimatethe movement of the movable member 2801.

Embodiment 10

FIG. 25 illustrates Embodiment 10 of the present invention. Theconfiguration includes a liquid crystal display unit 2101 and housingmembers 2102 a, 2102 b, and 2102 c for supporting the liquid crystaldisplay unit 2101, a disk-shaped rotary operation body 2103 placed onthe top of the liquid crystal display unit 2101, and magnetic sensors2104 a, 2104 b, and 2104 c placed on the top of the housing member 2102a. Here, the position of the magnetic sensor 2104 c along a planedirection of the liquid crystal display unit 2101 overlaps thecircumference of the rotary operation body 2103 and the S pole of themagnetic body 2104 c is arranged upward. Alternatively, it may bearranged downward.

FIG. 16 to FIG. 19 also illustrate the present embodiment. The followingcomponents are the same as those of the Embodiment 1 of the presentinvention. The components include: the liquid crystal display unit 2101;the housing members 2102 a, 2102 b, and 2102 c that support the liquidcrystal display unit 2101; the disk-shaped rotary operation body 2103arranged on the upper surface of the liquid crystal display unit 2101;the magnetic sensors 2104 a and 2104 b arranged on the upper surface ofthis housing member; and the magnetic bodies 2201 to 2208 arranged onthe lower surface of the rotary operation body 2103.

Here, when the rotary operation body 2103 is made to rotate, themagnetic bodies 2201 to 2208 apply the magnetic fields of the N and Spoles alternately downward the lower surface of the rotary operationbody. On the other hand, the magnetic body 2104 c always applies themagnetic field of the S pole upward. The rotary operation body 2103brings any of the magnetic bodies 2201 to 2208 close to the magneticbody 2104 c according to the rotation angle, so that the degree ofrepelling of the magnetic field or attractive force varies. For example,because the lower side is the S pole, the magnetic body 2201 repels themagnetic body 2104 c. In contrast, the magnetic body 2202 attracts themagnetic body 2104 c because the lower side is the N pole. The magneticbody 2203 repels the magnetic body 2104 c because the lower side is theS pole. The magnetic body 2204 attracts the magnetic body 2104 c becausethe lower side is the N pole. In this way, the repelling and attractingare applied as the rotary operation body 2103 rotates, so that theoperator of the rotary operation body 2103 obtains the sense ofintermittent resistance, that is click feeling.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, even if there isno special wiring on the rotary operation body 2103 arranged on theupper surface of the liquid crystal display unit 2101, the magneticsensors 2104 a and 2104 b on the lower surface of the liquid crystal candetect the rotation of the rotary operation body 2103. Since the rotaryoperation body 2103 is close to the contents displayed on the liquidcrystal display unit 2101, an operator can intuitively understand theoperation to the displayed contents and the response representation byrotary operation.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, even if there isno special wiring on the upper surface of the liquid crystal displayunit 2101, the magnetic sensor 2104 c on the lower surface of the liquidcrystal can detect the pushing down of the second magnetic body 2701 andsince the rotary operation body 2103 is close to the contents displayedon the liquid crystal display unit 2101, an operator can intuitivelyunderstand the operation to the displayed contents and the responserepresentation by operating the second magnetic body 2701 as a push-downbutton.

According to the present embodiment, even if the magnetism of the secondmagnetic bodies 2802 a and 2802 b are small, the magnetic sensors 2104 aand 2104 b can detect and estimate the movement of the movable member2801. In addition, even if the amount of movement of the movable member2801 is small, the magnetic sensors 2104 a and 2104 b can detect andestimate the movement of the movable member 2801.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, the rotaryoperation body 2103 is subjected to repelling and attracting as it ismade to rotate. Thus, an operator of the rotary operation body 2103obtains the sense of intermittent resistance, that is click feeling.

REFERENCE NUMERALS

-   -   1 application block    -   2 graphic block    -   3 application CPU    -   4 ROM    -   5 RAM    -   6 object manager    -   7 graphic engine    -   8 VRAM    -   9 object database    -   10 CLK    -   11 LCDC    -   12 liquid crystal display    -   13 attribute value    -   14 trigger    -   15 object property    -   16 draw command list    -   17 address and data    -   301 graphic object 100    -   302 attribute    -   401 attribute value    -   501 object location    -   601 object property address    -   701 object draw generator    -   702 draw command template    -   703 reference type object draw generator    -   704 draw command template    -   901 drawing command    -   902 drawing element    -   903 drawing argument    -   904 drawing argument    -   911 data    -   912 drawing circuit selection    -   913 register value    -   914 register value    -   1001 line-drawing circuit    -   1002 point-drawing circuit    -   1003 circle-drawing circuit    -   1004 character-drawing circuit    -   1101 starting position    -   1102 ending position    -   1103 memory image    -   1104 graphic primitive    -   1201 register A    -   1202 register B    -   1203 start flag    -   1204 address register    -   1205 data register    -   1206 busy flag    -   1401 operation screen    -   2101 liquid crystal display unit    -   2102 a-2102 c housing member    -   2103 rotary operation body    -   2103 b rotation axis for supporting a rotation operation body    -   2104 a magnetic sensor    -   2104 b magnetic sensor    -   2104 c magnetic sensor or third magnetic body    -   2201-2208 magnetic body    -   2501 magnetic field strength    -   2502 magnetic field strength    -   2601 threshold of magnetic field    -   2602 threshold of magnetic field    -   2701 second magnetic body    -   2801 movable member    -   2802 a second magnetic body    -   2802 b second magnetic body

The invention claimed is:
 1. A semiconductor integrated circuit devicefor configuring a graphic user interface, where a display elementincluding a button or a text box composed of information including acharacter, a figure, or an image is referred to as a graphic object,comprising: a database configured to store a plurality of objectproperties, wherein each object property includes attribute valuespertaining to at least positions of respective graphic objects on ascreen; and an object manager that includes: a draw command templateincluding a plurality of drawing commands for drawing said graphicobject, wherein each drawing command includes at least one variable foridentifying corresponding attribute values in said object property, saidat least one variable having a value that represents an offset from afront address of said object property, and an object draw generator that(i) reads out, from said draw command template, a variable representingan offset value, (ii) reads out at least one attribute value from saidobject property based on said variable, and (iii) outputs a drawingcommand by replacing the at least one variable in a drawing command insaid draw command template with the corresponding at least one attributevalue read out from said object property.
 2. The semiconductorintegrated circuit device of claim 1, further comprising an applicationblock having an application CPU on which an application program runs,wherein a graphic block composed of said database, said graphic engine,and said object manager, and said application block independently run,and said graphic block and said application block are provided on asingle or a plurality of semiconductor chips.
 3. The semiconductorintegrated circuit device of claim 2, wherein said database isaccessible from both said graphic manager and said application CPU. 4.The semiconductor integrated circuit device of claim 1, wherein saiddatabase includes an object location for storing a position of saidobject property on a memory, and said object manager acquires theposition of the object property with reference to said object location.5. The semiconductor integrated circuit device of claim 1, wherein saidobject property further includes at least one of width, height,background color, existence of highlighting, picture image data, ID, andname of said graphic object.
 6. The semiconductor integrated circuitdevice of claim 1, wherein said object manager includes a reference typeobject draw generator that invokes said object draw generator.
 7. Thesemiconductor integrated circuit device of claim 1, wherein said objectmanager includes configuration information of said object property on amemory, and when reading the attribute value of said object property,said object manager uses said configuration information to access amemory address in which said attribute value is stored.
 8. Thesemiconductor integrated circuit device of claim 1, wherein said graphicengine includes a drawing logic which is a logic circuit for drawing aprimitive drawing element including a point, a line, a circle, apolygon, or a character; and said graphic engine distributes drawingcommands issued by said object manager into said drawing logic.
 9. Afacility appliance control device, comprising: a semiconductorintegrated circuit as described in claim 1; and a facility appliancecontrol program for air-conditioning and lighting, wherein said facilityappliance control program presents information about an appliance to auser by using said semiconductor integrated circuit device.